The Philadelphia Phillies had a big night on Thursday when they crushed the Atlanta Braves by a final score of 19-4 in the series opener against their National League East rivals. Leading the way for Philadelphia was slugger Kyle Schwarber, who etched his name in MLB history by becoming the third player this season to hit four home runs in a single game. (He joins Eugenio Suarez, then with the Diamondbacks, and Athletics rookie infielder Nick Kurtz.)
That's just the exclamation point on what has been an incredible contract year so far for the lefty. Schwarber is hitting .248/.370/.586 with 49 home runs, 119 RBI, a 4.4 WAR and a .956 OPS, putting together the most complete season of his career to date. But while Schwarber's four-homer display is worth celebrating on its own, it also begs the question: Could this performance enhance his case to be named the NL MVP at the end of the year, and does it give him an edge over Shohei Ohtani?
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Does Kyle Schwarber's four-homer game give him an edge over Shohei Ohtani in NL MVP race?
It's certainly a fair question. Schwarber is having a fantastic season, and is more than deserving of consideration to win his first MVP Award. Ohtani and Aaron Judge were the MVPs last season, introducing the possibility of some voter fatigue entering the picture. But while there is certainly a strong enough case for Judge to be unseated by Cal Raleigh, that shouldn't be the case in the National League.
In almost all categories besides home runs and RBI, Ohtani still has the edge over Schwarber. The two-way superstar is hitting .278/.387/.608 with 45 home runs, 85 RBI, a 5.6 WAR and a .995 OPS. He also has returned to the mound after serving as a DH only last year and has looked great as a starting pitcher — looking more and more like the Cy Young candidate he was with the Los Angeles Angels before undergoing elbow surgery two years ago.
Schwarber at least deserves consideration; he's been that good, the best offensive player not named Ohtani in the NL this year. However, that shouldn't take away from what Ohtani has been able to do at all: He still is the superior player and has the edge in most of the important stats. His pitching obviously also must be taken into account as the regular season winds down.
Voter fatigue could play a role, but that shouldn't be an issue; the best player deserves to take home the trophy. Ohtani is still the clear favorite to win the MVP in the National League, and should remain as such for the duration of the 2025 season.
Things can obviously change, but if the season were to end today, Ohtani would and should still be the favorite to take home yet another piece of hardware. We'll see if he ultimately wins it again.